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Children's Product Safety

One of my key achievements since coming to Congress was the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which became law in 2008. CPSIA represents the most significant improvement in children's product safety and support for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in decades. The law included my provisions to require safety standards and pre-market testing for durable children's products, including cribs, playpens and high chairs, and to ensure children's products come with a postage-paid recall registration card so consumers can be notified by the manufacturer should a problem arise. It also banned lead and dangerous phthalates in children's toys. Through its authority under CPSIA, the CPSC banned dangerous drop-side cribs, which have been linked to more than 30 infant deaths. After years of crib recalls, reports of deaths in unsafe cribs and heel-dragging by the industry, I worked with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Kids in Danger to get recalled cribs off store shelves and out of homes. The CPSIA is now law, and I remain committed to overseeing its strong implementation and to looking for further opportunities to improve the safety of toys and other children's products.

Resources

Consumer Product Safety Commission